Living in New England we are only too aware of our fleeting summer. It’s just too quick. But other summertime activities? They seem to take forever.

With a nod to the season, let’s start with the boys of summer. Major League Baseball is slowly realizing what even casual fans have known for years: the games are way too long. Despite a few time-saving efforts, games are LONGER, averaging over three hours. We offer two quick suggestions; enforce the rules - and - ditch instant replay. For a sport whose single-biggest drawback is the length of its games, adding an element making games even longer is totally misguided.

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If the GOP’s effort on healthcare reform was a patient, by now it would have been pronounced dead several times. Yet it’s still shuffling about the ICU ward. Head surgeon and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is relentlessly pushing to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Compromise is when nobody gets what they want. Maybe Senator John McCain can rally a bi-partisan effort, reforming a law that represents nearly one-sixth of the nation’s economy and impacts virtually every single citizen – rather than blow it up and start over.

And finally this week, there is Russia. It is an issue - and legitimate concern - that is dragging on and not going away, no matter the President’s wishes. While we wholeheartedly support the ongoing investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, we hope with equal enthusiasm that he acts with all deliberate dispatch. The investigation must be fair and thorough in determining Russia’s role in the 2016 election, and whether the Trump campaign colluded in any way. But if we ever hoped something was fake news, it’s reports that the investigation could take years. That’s simply too long for the nation not to know what happened, and backing up against the next presidential campaign.